Self Publishing

I frequently walk past a Barnes and Noble. Sometimes I think it would be cool to see my books sitting on a shelf inside that store, just waiting to be picked up.

Then I think about the raffle that I recently held. One of the entries required answering a question. The question I asked was, “Where do you look for book suggestions?” The answers were varied, but the most frequent response I got was Amazon. This was confirmation to me that Amazon is changing the way that people look for and buy books.

So even though I can’t walk into Amazon off the street and see my book on a shelf, I am very happy that I can go to Amazon.com and see my books anytime. I don’t have to worry about the store being closed or it running out of my books. In one month, I sold more than 1,000 copies of my ebooks. I’m pretty sure the store wouldn’t have had that many copies on hand.

With all that being said, I have no regrets about selling exclusively with Amazon, or buying books exclusively from Amazon.

I have been contemplating what kind of advertising I should do to market my books. I’ve looked at several websites and seen prices ranging from $25 – $400 to market my book. I have yet to see any absolute proof that these marketing sites work, so I’ve decided to hold off until I do some more research.

But sales were quite slow for the beginning of July, and I was really thinking that I have to do something. Then on Friday, July 19th, I sold more than 300 books. And now, two days later, that number is over 500. I know there are some authors who sell into the thousands, even tens of thousands over a weekend, but for me, a new author, it was pretty awesome to see my books holding the #3 and #4 spots in Paranormal Suspense. Right up there with Stephen King and Justin Cronin.

The thing is – I have no idea how it happened. The only thing that I can think of is that I must’ve been lucky enough to be featured on Amazon or was part of an email blast. I really have no idea. So, if you are reading this and you bought my book between July 19 – July 21, please share with me how you heard about my books. I am very interested in finding out.

And no matter how it happened, I am grateful. I hope to get some feedback, and most importantly, some new fans.

I write with the reader in mind, which may be why it’s hard for me to choose where to advertise. As a voracious reader myself, I usually hear about books via word of mouth, Goodreads, or by looking at new releases and best selling books on Amazon. This is why it is very hard for me to advertise, as I have never looked at or even heard of any of the suggested advertising websites before I was a writer.

If this was an Amazon boost, as I suspect it was, then this is just another reason that I am a fan of self-publishing with Amazon. I am very happy that I chose to go exclusively with them, especially after such a stellar weekend. I highly recommend self-publishing to any writer who is waiting to be published.

I’ll continue to watch for effective advertising, but for now, I think I’ll just stick to what I’m doing.

Amazon has made dreams come true for indie authors everywhere. Including me! I love Amazon for this and no matter what anybody says about them, they have given voice to writers whose words may have never been published. I’m all about equal opportunity for everyone and Amazon has made that possible.

In this blog, I will write about my experiences with self-publishing, because if you haven’t found out already, indie authors love to pay it forward. I will share everything that I read, everything that I did, and everything that I learn while on this journey. If I can inspire even one person to follow their dreams, then I am happy.